Those Beavers!

Okay. I'm going to diverge from my obsession with horses to something else. (For now, anyway).

I know! Let's talk about Beavers!!!!

After spending five days under New Mexican skies, C and I had one more free night to make camp somewhere in the Colorado mountains before heading back to our home in Wyoming. Climbing up and out of the desert sage we drove along a twisting road to the south fork of Hardscrabble Creek in the San Isabel National Forest. We slowed down. Along the willowed banks of the creek were numerous beaver dams. The area looked familiar even though neither one of us had ever been there before. Then it dawned on us. We were seeing the exact creek where they had released some beavers! We had watched the PBS Nature special just days before going on our trip to New Mexico. The program is aptly called LEAVE IT TO BEAVERS. It was an amazing story of one woman's passion and dedication to saving beavers and changing the minds of those who think they are pests or just want their soft, luxurious fur to wrap around their shoulders. At the request of some ranchers who know that beaver labor creates wetlands, raises water tables, restores silty top soil and cleans the water, they had this gal, this live trapper and relocator of beavers, release some into their portion of Hardcrabble Creek. And what a success it has been!

I couldn't believe we had stumbled upon this particular place, with no idea that our campground was just a stones throw from this beaver haven. So, there we were, admiring the meticulous dams and beaver lodges made from gnawed down aspen trees, the hard work, the good work of some beautiful beavers that had become famous on a television program.

Naturally, I am now enamoured by the beaver. They are creatures we don't think too much about, but ought to.

And the significance of this sign? My husband nicknamed me Squirrel many years ago. I was his girlfriend which after a while, turned in to his squirrelfriend. And now, well, I'm just plain Squirrel.